Story by Izzy McKnight.
Infographic by Noah Vivrette.
Whether you want to or not, anyone with an internet connection knows the name Taylor Swift. Her work has set her apart from many other artists of her generation, and with that has come both good and bad feedback.
Her career started in 2006 when Steve Brochetta signed her on at Big Machine Records, where she released her first single “Tim McGraw,” and it was an instant hit. For the next eight months, the song would stay on the Billboard Country Singles chart. Soon after the success of her first single, Swift released her self-titled debut album, which led her to become a popular opening act for numerous country artists, one being Tim McGraw.
“I started listening to her around 2008 I think, I enjoyed it immediately,” said Economics teacher, Julie Hanen.
After the success of her first album, Swift continued the momentum with her second studio album “Fearless. With this album, Swift began incorporating different pop elements into her music to grow her audience without losing her place as a country artist. “ Fearless” was met with overwhelming excitement from fans and critics alike, winning 4 Grammys, Country Album of the Year, and the Video Music Award for Best Female Video.
“I think she deserves her success. She worked hard and used her connections to get her name out there and she shouldn’t be discredited,” said freshman Noah McClure
Swift continued her rise to fame with her third studio album “ Speak Now” in October 2010 as well as her first world tour aptly titled, “ Speak Now World Tour.” This album would spark even more controversy for Swift, as her ex-boyfriend John Mayer believed the song “Dear John” was about him and that it was a bad representation of his character.
Mayer would go on to say in an interview with Rolling Stones Magazine that he felt it was “cheap songwriting” and claimed that he was caught off guard and felt very humiliated after the song’s release. The fans, however, heard the song and loved it, going so far as to start attacking John Mayer online which would continue for years to come. Not only was this album a hot topic for her perceived brazenness, it was also her first step in the direction to begin her career as a pop artist.
“When she made the transition from country to pop and it felt natural, like she had been in country music forever but she had also been like, popular so it made sense to transition into a pop artist. So to make the switch from country to pop while not like abandoning country was really good,” said Collins.
Swift’s next album, “Red,” would solidify her place as a pop artist while still using country in the album, as well as earn her a Guinness World Record with her single “We Are Never Getting Back Together” hitting number one on the iTunes singles charts only 50 minutes after its release. The album would be received with more love than ever before, but the new songs brought up new drama surrounding Swift and another one of her past relationships this time with actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
Two years later on Oct. 27, 2014, Swift dropped her fifth studio album “1989”. This album was said to be both titled by her birth year and inspired by the music of that era. With the inspiration for the album being the late eighties, the album was her first entirely pop album. The song “ Shake it Off” would go on to become one of her most well known tracks to this day. Along with the genre switch, swifties noticed subtle nods to her most recent ex, Harry Styles throughout her album and the corresponding tour. The “1989” album would spark her next world tour and her second Grammy for Album of the Year.
“I took my daughters to see her 1989 tour and it was very impressive. She puts on a fantastic show, and I’ve just continued to listen to her ever since,” said Hanen.
After the release of “1989”, Swift entered what some consider to be the most controversial point in her career. In 2016, West released his album “ The Life of Pablo” and in his song “Famous” West wrote controversial lyrics about Swift’s career which he claimed to have gotten her approval for. Swift spoke up about the issue while accepting her Album of the Year award.
“I want to say to all the young women out there: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” she said at the time. “But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world,” said Swift.
The next year in 2017, Swift prepared to release her sixth album “Reputation”. Her new song “Look What You Made Me Do” quickly became a hit with Swifties.
After the success of her previous album, Swift regained her popularity among the masses as she released her seventh album titled “Lover”. Swift went from more dark and heavy tones with “Reputation” to a very upbeat and fun-loving vibe with “Lover”. The lead single on the album, “Cruel Summer” spent 12 weeks atop the Radio- Songs charts, breaking her personal record of seven weeks with “Blank Space” The album was originally scheduled to have its own world tour called “Loverfest” but due to Covid-19, the tour was rescheduled and later canceled altogether.
During the worldwide lockdown, Swift continued writing and recording and in the midst of the pandemic released “Folklore” with almost no notice to fans that a new album was coming. This project was completely different from anything that Swift had previously put out, the album used a more fairytale reality to tell stories about. “Folklore” would go on to win Swift her third Album of the Year award at the Grammy’s, and later that year the sister album “Evermore” would be released using the same techniques as she used months prior.
Swift lost the legal right to the masters of all her songs from her first six albums in hopes of taking back the work that was hers. Going into 2021, Swift began re-recording her stolen works and later that year released “Fearless”(Taylors Version) and “Red” (Taylors Version) saying that anything with (Taylors Version) next to it, is hers and only hers.
Keeping up with her almost consistent momentum, Swift released her tenth studio album “Midnights” which was described by Swift as a collection of sleepless nights throughout her life. The album was received with open arms, spending twelve consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top 100 charts. With the overwhelming success that Swift has received, she announced her next tour, The Eras Tour, which would include every era of music that she had gone through in just one show. Fans went insane hearing that news and even crashed TicketMaster once the tickets were available.
“I love the way that people are literally creating outfits from scratch to go to these concerts and making hundreds of beaded bracelets and trading them with each other is just wow. The dedication these fans have for Taylor just shows how much they love and appreciate her,” said senior Bri Eurton.
Halfway through the first American leg of the tour, swift announced and released “Speak Now” (Taylors Version) and followed it with “1989” (Taylors Version) only a few months later. As she released her re-records, Swift would add songs “from the vault” that had never been heard before and added them to her setlist as surprise songs as the tour continued. In 2023 at the MTV Music Awards, Swift took home nine different awards including Best Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, and Song of the Year.
At the 2024 Grammy Awards, Swift announced a brand new album to be released on April 19, called “The Tortured Poets Department” which sold over 1.4 million copies on its first day of release. This album has been a drastic switch from her most recent work, being considered the five stages of grief in an album. Swifties were astonished when instead of the original 16-track album, they were given 31 different tracks in only two hours.
With her latest album release still sparking conversations and the Eras Tour not ending anytime soon, it is only a matter of when the artist drops another surprise for her fans.
The Bagpiper 